S-Clarke

Very fair assessment of him. I described him as a bit of a terrier, never giving away much space and not afraid to get stuck in. He doesn't hide and you can never have any question marks about his application. From what I've seen he just lacks that bit of quality, it really does show when he's being expected to attack as he doesn't produce that final ball. Decent player to have around longer-term I can see Small as our LB.

Glad he's got a move, didn't want him stagnating in the U23's. He was put into the spot light quite a lot last year because we were so short, never looked quite ready but didn't let anyone down. Hope he does ok there.

They did well out of that one. They got Ben White in to replace him. We were linked with him for quite some time back in the Wilson and Les days, looks quite slow to say the least.

He's got a 'Tim, nice but Dim' vibe about him. Thinks incredibly highly of himself, but hasn't really done anything to back that up. Talks a lot but doesn't seem to know what he's saying half the time. He kept incorrectly calling out Diallo as Tella in the goal replays.

Lambert - He was awesome for us in the first couple of PL seasons, he went up another level under Poch Jay - Started slow, but under Poch him and Lambo were unplayable at times. They worked really well together alongside Lallana in the hole. That was a great team. Ings - Kept us up for a couple of years with his goals, he was a pleasure to watch during 2020 under Ralph. Pelle - He got some pelters for his debut, but he gave us such a preseance up top and it allowed the likes of Mane and Tadic to flourish in and around him. 12 goals in his first season isn't to be sniffed at. Can't quite go with Broja yet, give him a full season and see how it ends. Attribute wise he's certainly got it all though. Gabbianni had the 'Saganoswki' effect for me, good for 6 months and then non-existent there after. Good player in there for sure, not sure if our shitty managers at the time played him wrong or not, but he struggled in the grand scheme.

I guess it's a hard sell, but they have a lot of money to offer in wages so it becomes an easier sell in that sense. I know Howe said Trippier didn't go there for the money, but whatever. He wouldn't have gone there otherwise. 30/35m on Chris Wood just feels a bit panicky to me. No real plan to that one and someone they'll probably loan out in 12 months time to a Champ side. He's not even been particularly good for Burnley this year.

That is his position in a nutshell really. That formation did work really well for us in the sense of our 'style, but I think we'd need another Salisu style CB though before I'd be fully confident playing that way.

He's done well this season, certainly looks more accomplished and complete compared to McCarthy. The problem with Forster is the stupid contract he was given, so he'll drift out of contract and find a club elsewhere. He still has limitations in his game but that's where we are. I think we'll get ourselves a new number 1 in the summer either way, McCarthy will end up the backup keeper and Fraser will be at a new club somewhere.

I'd be tempted, if we can, to start negotiating that loan deal now. Clubs have extended loans in the January window before. I'm sure chats are happening, so we'll see what happens. We're happy he's here, he's happy he's here, Chelsea are going to be happy with how he's doing here.

Newcastle going full on Everton here. I thought they were the new Man City? That's £30m down the pan on a short-term stop gap player. I guess it doesn't matter when you have an endless pot, but that transfer just shows they have absolutely no real plan or philosophy. It's very Everton-esque.

I agree with the 2nd season loan approach, I think that's the most realistic option we have. He'd blow our budget on a perm, we'd be better off getting him on loan for a 2nd year and using the next 2 years to scout his replacement at a much lower fee.

I don't quite know how to react after that, it's all a very surreal and unusual feeling in a PL game. To be that comfortable in the final 10 mins is something i've dreamt of for many years! We started so well and so fast, this has become a bit of a statement of our season so far - we start well, we get on the front food and are seemingly taking lots of early leads in games as we catch the opposition asleep. We're on it from min 1 and we were even more on it today. We didn't play as well as we can do in the first half, but we played with an intensity which Brentford found hard to counter - so they couldn't really get into the game because of that. The second half played into our hands really, Brentford pushed and opened the game up a bit. That left great space in behind for us to counter press to our hearts content. They had the majority of possession in that 2nd half, but because our press was still spot on we nullified a lot of their threat and were able to catch them in behind on a few occasions (notably the two goals, in behind, over the top etc). That game in a nutshell is our philosophy working to perfection. No, we won't have tons of possession, but we will press the living hell out of you and counter when we get it with pace and power. JWP was absolutely imperious. A glorious performance all around from him, absolutely faultless. Big clubs will undoubtedly be sniffing with those sorts of showings. Diallo for me as well was epic. So good on the ball, so agile in his movement. He plays better in a more advanced central midfield role than a 'Romeu' replacement in my eyes, you get the best of Diallo by letting him burst forward as he has terrific pace and trickery to beat a man. Broja kept the Brentford defence on guard all night long. He was electric. He's so quick, so powerful and they were scared shitless of him. He's got the beating of anyone one on one, the attributes he provides us are perfect. I don't think we can sign him perm, but I'd be doing everything now to try and do a deal for a 2nd season loan. I can't list all the 11 as they all had good games to reasonable effect. Lyanco had a better 2nd half than first half, whereby he was a bit dodgy and dangerous with the ball. He settled down a bit in the 2nd half. Perruad as others have said offered us balance on the left side, he does lack that quality to get the ball in though - he needs to be better with the final delivery to be a proper wing back in this type of system. It was important to get this big win in advance of what is a very daunting run of fixtures heading our way, this gives us terrific breathing space and in a certain respect the pressure is slightly off - so we may see some surprising results from the games we don't expect anything in. We can certainly cause anyone a problem if we play as we did today.

Yeah, I can only think it's a mistake. They wouldn't be able to re-run the game in full either as they haven't broadcasted it themselves, so they'd have no rights. Highlights on their app, yeah, but other than that they cannot show it unless they are the designated broadcaster of that game (which they aren't, as it wasn't ever a televised game)

Yeah, he's another one. Around the same time as McCarthy. Dan Sheldon confirmed it in one of the live chat 'blogs' he does on The Athletic. It's really bizarre why we haven't actually put it out there, I can't quite think of any reason at all why we'd want to hold that news back. Unless we've made a massive error and are paying them both £150k per week on 7 year deals, so we don't want to tell anyone.

Newcastle do need a number 1. Dubravka isn't up to it really. That'll probably be a summer signing for them though. GK is a big signing for us though, getting it right can totally transform a side. The impact Martinez had at villa is testament to that.

Utd didn't look like they had any idea, no pattern to their play, no general direction in what they were trying to do. Rudderless probably describes that. Villa should have got at least 1 goal without a doubt, they were much better and much more inventive in the attacking third. Not sure what's happened to Rashford, it's not a recent thing either, he's been off it for about 2 years now. Not sure if injuries have ruined his mobility or something, but he's pretty much a pub player out there at the moment. Sad to see, he had so much potential.

Generally I thought he was absolutely horrific though, even when we were against 10. Nothing has really changed in his game, attributes such as pace and power but no touch or refinement. He might end up getting a few goals in the Championship over the course of his career, but I think he's pretty crap and another player we probably held onto a little bit too long.

From what I've seen of him, I'm not sure he's got the attitude or character I'd really want here. You've got to look at yourself as a player when two managers don't include you in a side which is crying out for quality in CM. He's got more ability than McTominay or Fred, so there's something else at play with Van De Beek.

To be fair to Man City they do use their academy, even in the days of the squad they have you still have players like Foden, Mcatee, Delap, Palmer etc all being given opportunities - so a young player is going to see a pathway at Man City. Chelsea is a different matter, they have too many players and they have hoovered up too much academy talent from all over the world. Go to Chelsea and end up being loaned out for a decade of your career. Getting Simeu and Tino is an example that their stockpiling has gone a bit wrong. We've probably got a chance of getting Broja for those reasons as well.

I'd find it odd if we signed a RB, certainly permanently. We just find ourselves in an incredibly unlucky situation, we are pretty well stocked now yet we've still been struck down at full back. Adding another one to the mix just adds bloat to the squad and wage bill. My opinion is that we just suck up the next week or two and come out of the other side.

Newcastle about to splurge a £35m package on a striker. From the outside, it seems an incredibly steep package for a 19 year old kid who plays for Reims, not really a name. Hugo Ekitike. 8 goals in 19 games this season. The players current value on transfermarkt, which is often a fair guide, is around the £5m mark.

Absolutley deserves credit, maybe one of the last real contributions he has for us. But he changed the game when he came on, doing exactly what you need an attacker to do when you're down to 10 men.

He never learns though does he, how many times is he caught out in that position with the same movement from an opposition player? I think he's garbage to be honest, certainly hope our takeover will mean we can bin players like him off.

Yep, that was the right sub at the right time I thought. Made a huge difference, as Armstrong was struggling.

Nigel had a background in physio which helped his judgement in that sense, you'd hope our physio's would be a bit stronger with Ralph if there was wear and tear showing up with Tino.